About: Utatsusaurus

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An Entity of Type : owl:Thing, within Data Space : dbkwik.org associated with source dataset(s)

Utatsusaurus is the earliest-known form of an ichthyopterygian (the group of marine reptiles that includes the ichthyosaurs), which lived in the early Triassic period (c. 245-250 millions years ago). Unlike the more advanced ichthyosaurs, Utatsusaurus has no dorsal fin and has a broad skull that tapers slowly toward the snout.

Attributes	Values
rdfs:label	Utatsusaurus
rdfs:comment	Utatsusaurus is the earliest-known form of an ichthyopterygian (the group of marine reptiles that includes the ichthyosaurs), which lived in the early Triassic period (c. 245-250 millions years ago). Unlike the more advanced ichthyosaurs, Utatsusaurus has no dorsal fin and has a broad skull that tapers slowly toward the snout.
sameAs	dbr:Utatsusaurus
dcterms:subject	Prehistoric reptiles of North America Prehistoric reptiles of Asia Triassic ichthyosaurs
dbkwik:fossil/prop...iPageUsesTemplate	dbkwik:resource/boLxLtoGYhqjsf6tb5GqmQ== dbkwik:resource/Fy4YvbW7sn4v4GYzCibvcQ== dbkwik:resource/XRcTOWRwp1CVw1KK0Z4RgQ== dbkwik:resource/wuTkfbUKhaQnJt3zqKikRQ==
Kingdom	Animalia
Name	Utatsusaurus
Caption	Life restoration of Utatsusaurus hataii.
fossil range	Early Triassic
Species	(Shikama, Kamei & Murata, 1978) * U. hataii
Genus	Utatsusaurus
Class	Sauropsida
Family	(McGowan & Motani, 2003) Utatsusauridae
Superorder	dbkwik:resource/SruX1g0Xt3W1vNgFbXUpHw==
Phylum	Chordata
abstract	Utatsusaurus is the earliest-known form of an ichthyopterygian (the group of marine reptiles that includes the ichthyosaurs), which lived in the early Triassic period (c. 245-250 millions years ago). Unlike the more advanced ichthyosaurs, Utatsusaurus has no dorsal fin and has a broad skull that tapers slowly toward the snout. For the size of the skull, the teeth are rather small, and arranged in a primitive groove. Utatsusaurus had small fins, with four toes instead of the usual five found in primitive ichthyosaurs. The tail had a long low fin, suggesting that the animal swam by undulation, rather than using its paddles and tail. Feeding on a diet of fish, Utatsusaurus reached a length of three meters (nine feet). Utatsusaurus has been found in Japan and Canada. Ryosuke Motani from the University of California, Berkeley and Nachio Minoura from Hokkaido University re-examined the fossils of Utatsusaurus in 1998 using computer imagery to reverse the distortion of the original skeleton. They found that Utatsusaurus was closely related to the lizard-like diapsid reptiles such as Petrolacosaurus, making ichthyopterygians a distant relative to lizards, snakes and crocodiles.

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